Guilt By The Fire
by 96flowers
Summary: Tumblr Prompt. Kataang. One-shot. Aang is feeling guilty about the outcome of the invasion on the fire nation. Katara gives him some much needed words of comfort.


**Another Prompt from tumblr. This time from my ask box.**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air Bender**

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 **Guilt By The Fire**

The sun had set a few hours ago and the rest of the team was in bed. Yet Aang was still awake, staring into the flames of the slowly dying campfire. It had been about a week since they had arrived at the Western Air Temple after the failed invasion of the Fire Nation on the day of the eclipse. Aang still felt so guilty that so many good men (and women) were in the hands of the Fire Nation because he failed to do what he set out to do. He started almost violently when a hand was set on his shoulder. He turned quickly to find Katara sitting beside him, looking at him with worry in her eyes.

He turned back to the fire without saying anything, he didn't want her to see how much guilt laid in his eyes. Yet he knew it was pointless because she already knew how much he blamed himself for the failure. He heard a soft sigh before a gentle hand turned his face back to hers. This time he meet her eyes and held them and didn't try to hide. Her eyes held worry and understanding, just like the other times he had lost himself to guilt and she had found him.

"Aang," She sighed softly, her hands still gentle as she let go of his face and took hold of his hands that were gripping his pants so hard that the knuckles were white. "You must stop this. You're going to make yourself sick. You need to sleep, I know you don't follow to bed after I return. I wasn't going to say anything, but you are exhausted. It's not good for you."

"I can't sleep," he croaked, closing his eyes. This is the only time he allows himself to be weak, only in front of her. To the others he is handling the loss well and ready to start planning for Sozin's Comet. "Every time I try to sleep all I see is the invasion. Over and over again. Always looking for different outcomes, but it always ends the same. How can you all still trust me to lead you?"

"Because you feel this guilt," Katara said soothingly. Aang opened his eyes and she must have seen the confusion on his face because she continued after thinking a moment. "You feel guilt for what happened, that means you will do anything in you power to make sure something like it doesn't happen again. A leader who doesn't feel guilty about a loss of that size is doomed to repeat it. We trust you because you can learn from the mistakes made during the invasion."

Aang didn't speak for a moment as he thought about what Katara had said. He could see the logic behind her words, and they made him feel slightly better, but the guilt still lingered.

"I don't expect you to just stop feeling guilty," She said a moment later understanding his silence for what it was. "That's not how it works, but I do believe that you should be able to start sleeping again without reliving the invasion."

"You're right," Aang said and he looked up and caught her eyes once more, this time his were filled with gratitude and something else, something that Katara couldn't quite put her finger one. "I do still feel the guilt, but now it feels as if there is a bit of weight lifted from my shoulders. Thank you."

"Anytime Aang," Katara smiled and stood, clearly ready to go back to her sleeping bag and return to the hands of Morpheus. But she paused for a moment and leaned down and gently cupped Aang's face in her hands. He looked at her in surprise but before he could say anything she had laid a gentle kiss on his lips. Then she was gone to her part of the camp, as if she hadn't been there.

Aang sat in stunned silence for a moment before a small smile broke on his face and the weight on his shoulders eased just a little bit more. He stood and stretched, feeling his joints pop and crack back into proper alignment. He looked out to the horizon and saw the moon, he guessed that there was still a few hours before sunrise and decided to try and sleep again. He turned back to the fire and gently bent some of the water from one of their storage bins into the pit to put out the last of the dying embers. Aang laid down against Appa and closed his eyes, sleep claimed him quickly, and for the first time sense the invasion he slept with no nightmares. He dreamed about what a future with his water bending teammate might look like with a small smile on his face.


End file.
